Search results for: spectrum

Authors: Yushen Dai, Tao Deng, Miaoying Chen, Baoqin Huang, Yan Ji, Yongshen Feng, Shaofei Liu, Dongmei Zhong, Tao Zhang, Lifeng Zhang

Abstract:

Background: Detection and diagnosis are prerequisites for early interventions in the care of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, few studies have focused on this topic. Aim: This study aims to characterize the timing from symptom detection to intervention in children with ASD and to identify the potential predictors of early detection, diagnosis, and intervention. Methods and procedures: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 314 parents of children with ASD in Guangzhou, China. Outcomes and Results: This study found that most children (76.24%) were diagnosed within one year after detection, and 25.8% of them did not receive the intervention after diagnosis. Predictors to ASD diagnosis included ASD-related symptoms identified at a younger age, more serious symptoms, and initial symptoms with abnormal development and sensory anomalies. ASD-related symptoms observed at an older age, initial symptoms with the social deficit, sensory anomalies, and without language impairment, parents as the primary caregivers, family with lower income and less social support utilization increased the odds of the time lag between detection and diagnosis. Children whose fathers had a lower level of education were less likely to receive the intervention. Conclusions and Implications: The study described the time for detection, diagnosis, and interventions of children with ASD. Findings suggest that the ASD-related symptoms, the timing at which symptoms first become a concern, primary caregivers’ roles, father’s educational level, and the family economic status should be considered when offering support to improve early detection, diagnosis, and intervention. Helping children and their families take full advantage of support is also important.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, child, detection, diagnosis, intervention, social support

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Amaal Almigal

Abstract:

Neurotypical children learn to ask questions from natural exposure and this skill is fundamental for their academic success. However, children with autism spectrum disorder may not learn to ask in the same way due to earlier communication impairments, and some may need to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication systems (AAC) to ask questions. This paper aims to highlight issues related to questioning skills in children with autism giving a specific attention to asking questions within preverbal or minimally verbal children. Different procedures have been employed to teach these children, including AAC users, to ask questions. Therefore, these procedures will also be discussed to administrate how they were used and what they were aimed to teach. This paper also provides a suggested procedure to assist preverbal or minimally verbal children to ask questions using an iPad application for communication (Proloquo2Go) as AAC. This suggested procedure was used with 3 children with autism. Initial results will be discussed to clarify ways in which this procedure was used with each child based on his skills and which questioning skills each child has acquired using this procedure.

Keywords: AAC, autism, communication, information, iPad, requesting

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Thanusha D. Abeywickrama, Inoka C. Perera, Genji Kurisu

Abstract:

Tuberculosis, considered being as the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, cause from a single infectious agent M. tuberculosis and the drug resistance nature of this bacterium is a continuing threat to the world. Therefore TB preventing treatment is expanding, where this study designed to analyze the regulatory mechanism of GntR transcriptional regulator gene Rv0792c, which lie between several genes codes for some hypothetical proteins, a monooxygenase and an oxidoreductase. The gene encoding Rv0792c was cloned into pET28a and expressed protein was purified to near homogeneity by Nickel affinity chromatography. It was previously reported that the protein binds within the intergenic region (BS region) between Rv0792c gene and monooxygenase (Rv0793). This resulted in binding of three protein molecules with the BS region suggesting tight control of monooxygenase as well as its own gene. Since monooxygenase plays a key role in metabolism, this gene may have a global regulatory role. The natural ligand for this regulator is still under investigation. In relation to the Rv0792 protein structure, a Circular Dichroism (CD) spectrum was carried out to determine its secondary structure elements. Percentage-wise, 17.4% Helix, 21.8% Antiparallel, 5.1% Parallel, 12.3% turn and 43.5% other were revealed from CD spectrum data under room temperature. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was conducted to assess the thermal stability of Rv0792, which the melting temperature of protein is 57.2 ± 0.6 °C. The graph of heat capacity (Cp) versus temperature for the best fit was obtained for non-two-state model, which concludes the folding of Rv0792 protein occurs through stable intermediates. Peak area (∆HCal ) and Peak shape (∆HVant ) was calculated from the graph and ∆HCal / ∆HVant was close to 0.5, suggesting dimeric nature of the protein.

Keywords: CD spectrum, DSC analysis, GntR transcriptional regulator, protein structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Norhan H. Mahdally, Bathini Thissera Riham A. ElShiekh, Noha M. Elhosseiny, Mona T. Kashef, Ali M. El Halawany, Mostafa E. Rateb, Ahmed S. Attia

Abstract:

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens pose a global threat to healthcare settings. The exhaustion of the current antibiotic arsenal and the scarcity of new antimicrobials in the pipeline aggravate this threat and necessitate a prompt and effective response. This study focused on two major pathogens that can cause serious infections: carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Multiple soil isolates were collected from several locations throughout Egypt and screened for their conventional and non-conventional antimicrobial activities against MDR pathogens. One isolate exhibited potent antimicrobial activity and was subjected to multiple rounds of fractionation. After fermentation and bio-guided fractionation, we identified pure microbial secondary metabolites with two scaffolds that exhibited promising effects against CRAB and MRSA. Scaling up and chemical synthesis of derivatives of the identified metabolite resulted in obtaining a more potent derivative, which we designated as 2HP. Cytotoxicity studies indicated that 2HP is well-tolerated by human cells. Ongoing work is focusing on formulating the new compound into a nano-formulation to enhance its delivery. Also, to have a better idea about how this compound works, a proteomic approach is currently underway. Our findings suggest that 2HP is a potential new broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to develop 2HP into a safe and effective treatment for MDR infections.

Keywords: broad-spectrum antimicrobials, carbapenem-resistant acinetobacter baumannii, drug discovery, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, multidrug-resistant, natural products

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Li Feng, Cheng Zhang, Chuanzhou Yuang

Abstract:

Understanding the macromolecular structure of low-rank coal is very important for its gasification and liquefaction. The pyrolysis is one of the methods of analyzing the macromolecular structure of coal. The gaseous products decomposed directly by the raw lignite at 500 °C and indirectly by tar products from raw lignite pyrolysis at 500 °C were investigated and compared by thermogravimetry, gas chromatography and mass spectrum coupled instrument system (TG/GC/MS) in this paper. The results show that 52 kinds of products were found from the raw lignite and 70 kinds of products from the tar. The pyrolysis products directly from the lignite appear more monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and less substituent groups or branch chain, compared with the products from the tar. There is less linear chain and double bonds structure in the tar, which can be speculated that linear chain and double bonds structure took part in the generation of condensed rings and other reactions. There are more kinds of phenol and furan in the tar, which indicate that these products may be generated from the secondary reaction. The formation process of phenol, phenol naphthalene, naphthene and furan are discussed.

Keywords: composition and structure, lignite, pyrolysis of coal, tar, TG/GC/MS

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: T. Bensana, S. Mekhilef

Abstract:

The methodology of vibration based condition monitoring technology has been developing at a rapid stage in the recent years suiting to the maintenance of sophisticated and complicated machines. The ability of wavelet analysis to efficiently detect non-stationary, non-periodic, transient features of the vibration signal makes it a demanding tool for condition monitoring. This paper presents a methodology for fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings based on wavelet envelope power spectrum technique is analysed in both the time and frequency domains. In the time domain the auto-correlation of the wavelet de-noised signal is applied to evaluate the period of the fault pulses. However, in the frequency domain the wavelet envelope power spectrum has been used to identify the fault frequencies with the single sided complex Laplace wavelet as the mother wavelet function. Results show the superiority of the proposed method and its effectiveness in extracting fault features from the raw vibration signal.

Keywords: preventive maintenance, fault diagnostics, rolling element bearings, wavelet de-noising

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Ezra N. S. Lockhart

Abstract:

The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased approximately 173% during the last decade making ASD the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States. This rise in prevalence rates indeed has an effect on schools. ASD is overwhelmingly the most reported primary special education eligibility category for students accessing special education, at a national average of 61.3%. ASD is regarded as an urgent public health concern at an estimated annual per capita cost of $3.2 million. Furthermore, considering that ASD is a lifelong disorder estimated lifetime per capita cost reach $35 billion. The resources available to special education programs are insufficient to meet the educational needs of the 6.4 million students receiving special educational services. This is especially true given that there has been and continues to be a chronic shortage of fully certified special education teachers for decades. Reports indicate that 81.1% of students with special needs spend 40% or more in general education classrooms. Regardless of whether support is implemented in the special education or general education classroom the resource demand is obvious. Schools are actively seeking to implement low-cost alternatives and budget saving measures in response to this demand. In public school settings, programs such as Applied Behavior Analysis are challenging to implement and fund at $40,000 per student per year. As an alternative, computer-based interventions are inexpensive, less time-consuming to implement, and require minimal teacher or paraprofessional training to administer. Affordability, pricing schemes, availability, and compatibility of computer-based interventions that support social and emotional skill development in individuals with ASD are discussed.

Keywords: affordability, autism spectrum disorder, computer-based intervention, emotional skills, social skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Gabriele Barrocas, Habon Issa

Abstract:

The amygdala is one of various brain regions that tend to be pathological in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a prevalent and heterogeneous developmental disorder affecting all ethnic and socioeconomic groups and consists of a broad range of severity, etiology, and behavioral symptoms. Common features of ASD include but are not limited to repetitive behaviors, obsessive interests, and anxiety. Neuroscientists view the amygdala as the core of the neural system that regulates behavioral responses to anxiogenic and threatening stimuli. Despite this consensus, many previous studies and literature reviews on the amygdala’s alterations in individuals with ASD have reported inconsistent findings. In this review, we will address these conflicts by highlighting recent studies which reveal that anatomical and related socio-emotional differences detected between individuals with and without ASD are highly age-dependent. We will specifically discuss studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), structural MRI, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to provide insights into the neuroanatomical substrates of ASD across development, with a focus on amygdala volumes, cell densities, and connectivity.

Keywords: autism, amygdala, development, abnormalities

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Seung-Won Lee, JongSoo Lee, Won-Jik Yang, Hyung-Joon Kim

Abstract:

A capacity spectrum method (CSM), one of methodologies to evaluate seismic fragilities of building structures, has been long recognized as the most convenient method, even if it contains several limitations to predict the seismic response of structures of interest. This paper proposes the procedure to estimate seismic fragility curves using an incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) rather than the method adopting a CSM. To achieve the research purpose, this study compares the seismic fragility curves of a 5-story reinforced concrete (RC) moment frame obtained from both methods, an IDA method and a CSM. Both seismic fragility curves are similar in slight and moderate damage states whereas the fragility curve obtained from the IDA method presents less variation (or uncertainties) in extensive and complete damage states. This is due to the fact that the IDA method can properly capture the structural response beyond yielding rather than the CSM and can directly calculate higher mode effects. From these observations, the CSM could overestimate seismic vulnerabilities of the studied structure in extensive or complete damage states.

Keywords: seismic fragility curve, incremental dynamic analysis, capacity spectrum method, reinforced concrete moment frame

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Bara M Yousef, Naresh B Raj, Nadiah W Arfah, Brightlin N Dhas

Abstract:

Background: Executive function (EF) impairment is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EF strategies are considered effective in improving the therapeutic outcomes of children with ASD. Aims: This study primarily aims to explore whether integrating EF strategies combined with regular occupational therapy intervention is more effective in improving daily life skills (DLS) and sensory integration/processing (SI/SP) skills than regular occupational therapy alone in children with ASD and secondarily aims to assess treatment outcomes on improving visual motor integration (VMI) skills. Procedures: A total of 92 children with ASD will be recruited and, following baseline assessments, randomly assigned to the treatment group (45-min once weekly individual occupational therapy plus EF strategies) and control group (45-min once weekly individual therapy sessions alone). Results and Outcomes: All children will be evaluated systematically by assessing SI/SP, DLS, and VMI, skills at baseline, 7 weeks, and 14 weeks of treatment. Data will be analyzed using ANCOVA and T-test. Conclusions and Implications: This single-blind, randomized controlled trial will provide empirical evidence for the effectiveness of EF strategies when combined with regular occupational therapy programs. Based on trial results, EF strategies could be recommended in multidisciplinary programs for children with ASD. Trial Registration: The trial has been registered in the clinicaltrail.gov for a registry, protocol ID: MRC-01-22-509 ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05829577, registered 25th April 2023

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, executive function strategies, daily life skills, sensory integration/processing, visual motor integration, occupational therapy, effectiveness

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Anurag Sharma, Arun Khosla, Mamta Khosla, Yogeswara Rao M.

Abstract:

Multimedia devices have received repute in the special desires community. The wide display screen makes it appealing and easy to use, specifically for the ones who've susceptible pleasant motor skill. This paper highlights how an Android-based game named as 'KIDDY' can be used to enhance confront face perceiving capacities in adults with autism and aid the children to develop social interaction capabilities. This game improved concentration and imagination via repetitive movement and visual commentary. Four students with autism, diverse in the historic period, social behavior and communiqué ability had been enrolled in the program and provided an opportunity to recognize new faces thrilling way. This paper offers resultant role based on 'Social Skills Rating System' that shows how cellular generation used as an academician intervention to decorate studying and communiqué among children with autism and additionally proven the tremendous behavior toward cell primarily based game.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, screen-based technology, mobile phone-based intercession

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Soyon Kim, Edward Kim

Abstract:

In order to retrieve information from the massive stream of songs in the music industry, music search by title, lyrics, artist, mood, and genre has become more important. Despite the subjectivity and controversy over the definition of music genres across different nations and cultures, automatic genre classification systems that facilitate the process of music categorization have been developed. Manual genre selection by music producers is being provided as statistical data for designing automatic genre classification systems. In this paper, an automatic music genre classification system utilizing non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is proposed. Short-term characteristics of the music signal can be captured based on the timbre features such as mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), decorrelated filter bank (DFB), octave-based spectral contrast (OSC), and octave band sum (OBS). Long-term time-varying characteristics of the music signal can be summarized with (1) the statistical features such as mean, variance, minimum, and maximum of the timbre features and (2) the modulation spectrum features such as spectral flatness measure, spectral crest measure, spectral peak, spectral valley, and spectral contrast of the timbre features. Not only these conventional basic long-term feature vectors, but also NMF based feature vectors are proposed to be used together for genre classification. In the training stage, NMF basis vectors were extracted for each genre class. The NMF features were calculated in the log spectral magnitude domain (NMF-LSM) as well as in the basic feature vector domain (NMF-BFV). For NMF-LSM, an entire full band spectrum was used. However, for NMF-BFV, only low band spectrum was used since high frequency modulation spectrum of the basic feature vectors did not contain important information for genre classification. In the test stage, using the set of pre-trained NMF basis vectors, the genre classification system extracted the NMF weighting values of each genre as the NMF feature vectors. A support vector machine (SVM) was used as a classifier. The GTZAN multi-genre music database was used for training and testing. It is composed of 10 genres and 100 songs for each genre. To increase the reliability of the experiments, 10-fold cross validation was used. For a given input song, an extracted NMF-LSM feature vector was composed of 10 weighting values that corresponded to the classification probabilities for 10 genres. An NMF-BFV feature vector also had a dimensionality of 10. Combined with the basic long-term features such as statistical features and modulation spectrum features, the NMF features provided the increased accuracy with a slight increase in feature dimensionality. The conventional basic features by themselves yielded 84.0% accuracy, but the basic features with NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV provided 85.1% and 84.2% accuracy, respectively. The basic features required dimensionality of 460, but NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV required dimensionalities of 10 and 10, respectively. Combining the basic features, NMF-LSM and NMF-BFV together with the SVM with a radial basis function (RBF) kernel produced the significantly higher classification accuracy of 88.3% with a feature dimensionality of 480.

Keywords: mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), music genre classification, non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), support vector machine (SVM)

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Abrahão S. Fontes, Carlos A. V. Cardoso, Levi P. B. Oliveira

Abstract:

The induction motors are used worldwide in various industries. Several maintenance techniques are applied to increase the operating time and the lifespan of these motors. Among these, the predictive maintenance techniques such as Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA), Motor Square Current Signature Analysis (MSCSA), Park's Vector Approach (PVA) and Park's Vector Square Modulus (PVSM) are used to detect and diagnose faults in electric motors, characterized by patterns in the stator current frequency spectrum. In this article, these techniques are applied and compared on a real motor, which has the fault of eccentricity in the air-gap. It was used as a theoretical model of an electric induction motor without fault in order to assist comparison between the stator current frequency spectrum patterns with and without faults. Metrics were purposed and applied to evaluate the sensitivity of each technique fault detection. The results presented here show that the above techniques are suitable for the fault of eccentricity in the air gap, whose comparison between these showed the suitability of each one.

Keywords: eccentricity in the air-gap, fault diagnosis, induction motors, predictive maintenance

Procedia PDF Downloads 318

Authors: Michael Lekan-Kehinde, Abimbola Asojo, Bonnie Sanborn

Abstract:

Good acoustic performance has been identified as one of the critical Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) factors for student learning and development by the National Research Council. Childhood presents the opportunity for children to develop lifelong skills that will support them throughout their adult lives. Acoustic performance of a space has been identified as a factor that can impact language acquisition, concentration, information retention, and general comfort within the environment. Increasingly, students learn by communication between both teachers and fellow students, making speaking and listening crucial. Neurodiversity - while initially coined to describe individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - widely describes anyone with a different brain process. As the understanding from cognitive and neurosciences increases, the number of people identified as neurodiversity is nearly 30% of the population. This research looks at guidelines and standard for spaces with good acoustical quality and relates it with the experiences of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their parents, teachers, and educators through a mixed methods approach, including selected case studies interviews, and mixed surveys. The information obtained from these sources is used to determine if selected materials, especially properties relating to sound absorption and reverberation reduction, are equally useful in small, medium sized, and large learning spaces and methodologically approaching. The results describe the potential impact of acoustics on Neurodiverse students, considering factors that determine the complexity of sound in relation to the auditory processing capabilities of ASD students. In conclusion, this research extends the knowledge of how materials selection influences the better development of acoustical environments for autism students.

Keywords: acoustics, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children, education, learning, learning spaces, materials, neurodiversity, sound

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Mujahid Ali, Wasif Mohammed Ali, Meraj Ahmad

Abstract:

Background: Perforation peritonitis is the most common surgical emergency encountered by surgeons all over the world as well as in India. The etiology of perforation peritonitis in India continues to be different from its western counterparts. The aim of this study is to evaluate the spectrum of cases of perforation peritonitis at our hospital. Methods: A prospective study conducted includes three hundred thirtysix patients of perforation peritonitis at J. N. Medical College from October 2015 to July 2017. The patients were admitted, resuscitated and underwent emergency laparotomy. Data were collected in terms of demographic profile, clinical presentations, site of perforations, causes and surgical outcomes. Results: In this study, the most common cause of perforation peritonitis was peptic ulcer disease (43%), followed by enteric perforation (12.8%), tubercular perforation (12.5%), traumatic perforation (11.9%), appendicular perforation (9.8%), amoebic caecal perforation (3%), malignant perforation (1.5%), etc. The sites of perforations were stomach in majority (38.3%), ileum (31%), appendix (8%), duodenum (5.%), caecum (4.4%) ,colon (3%), jejunum (8.5%) and gall bladder (2%). The overall mortality was 21% in our study. Age >50 years (p= <0.0001, OR= 3.9260, CI= 2.2 to 6.9), organ failure (p= <0.0001, OR= 29.2, CI= 14.8 to 57.6), shock (p=<0.0001, OR=20.20, CI= 10.56 to 38.6), diffuse peritonitis (p<0.0015, OR= 6.8810, CI= 2.09 to 22.57) and faecal exudates (p<0.0001) were found to be significant factors affecting mortality. The most common complication associated was superficial wound infection (40%), followed by burst abdomen seen in 21% cases, intra-abdominal sepsis in 18% cases, electrolyte imbalances in 15% cases, anastomotic leak in 6% cases. Conclusion: In this study, stomach is the most common site of perforation with peptic ulcer disease being the most common etiology. Older age, presence of shock, organ failure and faecal peritonitis were the risk factors affecting the mortality of the patients. Early recognition, adequate resuscitation and referral of patients can influence outcome and reduces mortality as well as morbidity.

Keywords: etiology, mortality, perforation, spectrum

Procedia PDF Downloads 224

Authors: C. Bolakis, I. S. Karanasiou, D. Grbovic, G. Karunasiri, N. Uzunoglu

Abstract:

A new approach for efficient detection of THz radiation in biomedical imaging applications is proposed. A double-layered absorber consisting of a 32 nm thick aluminum (Al) metallic layer, located on a glass medium (SiO2) of 1 mm thickness, was fabricated and used to design a fine-tuned absorber through a theoretical and finite element modeling process. The results indicate that the proposed low-cost, double-layered absorber can be tuned based on the metal layer sheet resistance and the thickness of various glass media taking advantage of the diversity of the absorption of the metal films in the desired THz domain (6 to 10 THz). It was found that the composite absorber could absorb up to 86% (a percentage exceeding the 50%, previously shown to be the highest achievable when using single thin metal layer) and reflect less than 1% of the incident THz power. This approach will enable monitoring of the transmission coefficient (THz transmission ‘’fingerprint’’) of the biosample with high accuracy, while also making the proposed double-layered absorber a good candidate for a microbolometer pixel’s active element. Based on the aforementioned promising results, a more sophisticated and effective double-layered absorber is under development. The glass medium has been substituted by diluted poly-si and the results were twofold: An absorption factor of 96% was reached and high TCR properties acquired. In addition, a generalization of these results and properties over the active frequency spectrum was achieved. Specifically, through the development of a theoretical equation having as input any arbitrary frequency in the IR spectrum (0.3 to 405.4 THz) and as output the appropriate thickness of the poly-si medium, the double-layered absorber retains the ability to absorb the 96% and reflects less than 1% of the incident power. As a result, through that post-optimization process and the spread spectrum frequency adjustment, the microbolometer detector efficiency could be further improved.

Keywords: bio-imaging, fine-tuned absorber, fingerprint, microbolometer

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Stephen Orimoloye, Jose Horrillo-Caraballo, Harshinie Karunarathna, Dominic E. Reeve

Abstract:

Prediction of wave overtopping is an essential component of coastal seawall designing and management. Not only that excessive overtopping is reported for impermeable seawalls under bimodal waves, but overtopping is also showing a high sensitivity to the peakedness of the random wave propagation patterns. In the present study, we present a comprehensive analysis of the effects of peakedness of bimodal wave patterns of the overtopping of sloping seawalls. An energy-conserved bimodal spectrum with four different spectra peak periods and swell percentages was applied to estimate wave overtopping in both numerical and experimental flumes. Results of incident surface elevations and bimodal spectra were accurately captured across the flume domain using sets of well-positioned resistant-type wave gauges. Peakedness characteristics of the wave patterns were extracted to derive a relationship between the non-dimensional overtopping and the peakedness across the wave groups in the wave series. The full paper will briefly describe the development of the spectrum and present a comprehensive results analysis leading to the derivation of the relationship between dimensionless overtopping and peakedness of bimodal waves.

Keywords: wave overtopping, peakedness, bimodal waves, swell percentages

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Kumars ZandParsa, Quynh Nguyen, Hadi Moradi

Abstract:

There are old cast-in-place concrete box girder bridges in California with inter-span hinges that are designed based on old earthquake codes. Hinge removal is part of the bridges’ earthquake retrofitting project, and hinges were removed and replaced with modified hinges per new earthquake codes. The span that has a hinge is divided into short and long cantilevers in which the short cantilever supports the long cantilever. In the recent bridge hinge replacement, the length of the short and long cantilevers were 20ft and 80ft, respectively. The seat in the new design is wider than the old design, and the horizontal and vertical movements of the deck at the hinge location must be computed to check if restraints are needed. In this paper, besides considering the conventional reinforced concrete box girder bridges, the hinge removal operations, along with the response spectrum analysis based on the El Centro 1940 earthquake, will be presented to verify if vertical and horizontal restrainers are needed.

Keywords: hinge replacement, restrainers, vertical earthquake, response spectrum analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 512

Authors: Kok Hong Tan, Hing Wah Lee, Jhih-Wei Chen, Chang Fu Dee, Chung-Lin Wu, Siang-Piao Chai, Wei Sea Chang

Abstract:

Semiconductor photocatalyst is known as one of the key roles in developing clean and sustainable energy. However, most of the semiconductor only possesses photoactivity within the UV light region, and hence, decreases the overall photocatalyst efficiency. Generally, the overall effectiveness of the photocatalyst activity is determined by three critical steps: (i) light absorption efficiency and photoexcitation electron-hole pair generation, (ii) separation and migration of charge carriers to the surface of the photocatalyst, and (iii) surface reaction of the carriers with its environment. Much effort has been invested on optimizing hierarchical nanostructures of semiconductors for efficient photoactivity due to the fact that the visible light absorption capability and occurrence of the chemical reactions mostly depend on the dimension of photocatalysts. In this work, we incorporated zero-dimensional (0D) gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and one dimensional (1D) Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) onto strontium titanate (STO) for efficient visible light absorption, charge transfer, and separation. We demonstrate that the electrical and optical properties of the photocatalyst can be tuned by controlling the dimensional structures of AuNPs and ZnO NRs. We found that smaller AuNPs sizes exhibited higher photoactivity because of Fermi level shifting toward the conductive band of STO, STO band gap narrowing and broadening of absorption spectrum to the visible light region. For ZnO NRs, it was found that the average ZnO NRs c-axis length must achieve of certain length to induce multiphoton absorption as a result of light reflection and trapping behavior in the free space between adjacent ZnO NRs hence broadening the absorption spectrum of ZnO from UV to visible light region. This work opens up a new way of broadening the absorption spectrum by incorporating controllable nanostructures of semiconductors, which is important in optimizing the solar water splitting process.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, photoelectrochemical, PEC, semiconductor photocatalyst, zinc oxide nanorods

Procedia PDF Downloads 130

Authors: Man Wai Lei, Charles Mark Zaroff

Abstract:

Objective: A majority of studies suggest that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have multisensory integration deficits. However, normal and even supranormal multisensory integration abilities have also been reported. Additionally, little of this work has been undertaken utilizing a dimensional conceptualization of ASD; i.e., a broader autism phenotype. Utilizing methodology that controls for common potential confounds, the current study aimed to examine if deficits in multisensory integration are associated with ASD traits in a non-clinical population. The contribution of affective versus non-affective components of sensory hypersensitivity to multisensory integration was also examined. Methods: Participants were 147 undergraduate university students in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China, of Chinese ethnicity, aged 16 to 21 (Mean age = 19.13; SD = 1.07). Participants completed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, the Sensory Perception Quotient, and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, in order to measure ASD traits, non-affective, and affective aspects of sensory/perceptual hypersensitivity, respectively. In order to explore multisensory integration across visual and haptic domains, participants were asked to judge which one of two equally weighted, but different sized cylinders was heavier, as a means of detecting the presence of the size-weight illusion (SWI). Results: ASD trait level was significantly and negatively correlated with susceptibility to the SWI (p < 0.05); this correlation was not associated with either accuracy in weight discrimination or gender. Examining the top decile of the non-normally distributed SWI scores revealed a significant negative association with sensation avoiding, but not other aspects of effective or non-effective sensory hypersensitivity. Conclusion and Implications: Within the normal population, a greater degree of ASD traits is associated with a lower likelihood of multisensory integration; echoing was often found in individuals with a clinical diagnosis of ASD, and providing further evidence for the dimensional nature of this disorder. This tendency appears to be associated with dysphoric emotional reactions to sensory input.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, dimensional, multisensory integration, size-weight illusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 451

Authors: Min L. Stewart, Patrick Johnston

Abstract:

Predictive coding has been proposed as a general explanatory framework for understanding the neural mechanisms of perception. As such, an underweighting of perceptual priors has been hypothesised to underpin a range of differences in inferential and sensory processing in autism spectrum disorders. However, empirical evidence to support this has not been well established. The present study uses an electroencephalography paradigm involving changes of facial identity and person category (actors etc.) to explore how levels of autistic traits (AT) affect predictive coding at multiple stages in the visual processing hierarchy. The study uses a rapid serial presentation of faces, with hierarchically structured sequences involving both periodic and aperiodic repetitions of different stimulus attributes (i.e., person identity and person category) in order to induce contextual expectations relating to these attributes. It investigates two main predictions: (1) significantly larger and late neural responses to change of expected visual sequences in high-relative to low-AT, and (2) significantly reduced neural responses to violations of contextually induced expectation in high- relative to low-AT. Preliminary frequency analysis data comparing high and low-AT show greater and later event-related-potentials (ERPs) in occipitotemporal areas and prefrontal areas in high-AT than in low-AT for periodic changes of facial identity and person category but smaller ERPs over the same areas in response to aperiodic changes of identity and category. The research advances our understanding of how abnormalities in predictive coding might underpin aberrant perceptual experience in autism spectrum. This is the first stage of a research project that will inform clinical practitioners in developing better diagnostic tests and interventions for people with autism.

Keywords: hierarchical visual processing, face processing, perceptual hierarchy, prediction error, predictive coding

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: M. Jazouli, S. Elhoufi, A. Majda, A. Zarghili, R. Aalouane

Abstract:

Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental disability. It is defined by a certain set of behaviors. Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) frequently engage in stereotyped and repetitive motor movements. The objective of this article is to propose a method to automatically detect this unusual behavior. Our study provides a clinical tool which facilitates for doctors the diagnosis of ASD. We focus on automatic identification of five repetitive gestures among autistic children in real time: body rocking, hand flapping, fingers flapping, hand on the face and hands behind back. In this paper, we present a gesture recognition system for children with autism, which consists of three modules: model-based movement tracking, feature extraction, and gesture recognition using artificial neural network (ANN). The first one uses the Microsoft Kinect sensor, the second one chooses points of interest from the 3D skeleton to characterize the gestures, and the last one proposes a neural connectionist model to perform the supervised classification of data. The experimental results show that our system can achieve above 93.3% recognition rate.

Keywords: ASD, artificial neural network, kinect, stereotypical motor movements

Procedia PDF Downloads 272

Authors: Eman Alarfaj, Hissah Alabdullatif, Huda Alabdullatif, Ghazal Albakri, Nor Shahriza Abdul Karim

Abstract:

Autism Spectrum Disorder is extensively spread amid children; it affects their social, communication and interactive skills. As robotics technology has been proven to be a significant helpful utility those able individuals to overcome their disabilities. Robotic technology is used in ASD therapy. The purpose of this research is to show how Nao robots can improve the social skills for children who suffer from autism in Saudi Arabia by interacting with the autistic child and perform a number of tasks. The objective of this research is to identify, implement, and test the effectiveness of the module for interacting with ASD children in an autism center in Saudi Arabia. The methodology in this study followed the ten layers of protocol that needs to be followed during any human-robot interaction. Also, in order to elicit the scenario module, TEACCH Autism Program was adopted. Six different qualified interaction modules have been elicited and designed in this study; the robot will be programmed to perform these modules in a series of controlled interaction sessions with the Autistic children to enhance their social skills.

Keywords: humanoid robot Nao, ASD, human-robot interaction, social skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Viktor R. Stoynov, Zlatka V. Valkova-Jarvis

Abstract:

The intelligent management and optimisation of radio resource technologies will lead to a considerable improvement in the overall performance in Next Generation Networks (NGNs). Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology, also known as Spectrum Aggregation, enables more efficient use of the available spectrum by combining multiple Component Carriers (CCs) in a virtual wideband channel. LTE-A (Long Term Evolution–Advanced) CA technology can combine multiple adjacent or separate CCs in the same band or in different bands. In this way, increased data rates and dynamic load balancing can be achieved, resulting in a more reliable and efficient operation of mobile networks and the enabling of high bandwidth mobile services. In this paper, several distinct CA deployment strategies for the utilisation of spectrum bands are compared in indoor-outdoor scenarios, simulated via the recently-developed Realistic Indoor Environment Generator (RIEG). We analyse the performance of the User Equipment (UE) by integrating the average throughput, the level of fairness of radio resource allocation, and other parameters, into one summative assessment termed a Comparative Factor (CF). In addition, comparison of non-CA and CA indoor mobile networks is carried out under different load conditions: varying numbers and positions of UEs. The experimental results demonstrate that the CA technology can improve network performance, especially in the case of indoor scenarios. Additionally, we show that an increase of carrier frequency does not necessarily lead to improved CF values, due to high wall-penetration losses. The performance of users under bad-channel conditions, often located in the periphery of the cells, can be improved by intelligent CA location. Furthermore, a combination of such a deployment and effective radio resource allocation management with respect to user-fairness plays a crucial role in improving the performance of LTE-A networks.

Keywords: comparative factor, carrier aggregation, indoor mobile network, resource allocation

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Mustapha A. Tijjani, Fanna I. Abdulrahman, Irfan Z. Khan, Umar K. Sandabe, Cong Li

Abstract:

Air dried sample V. doniana after collection and identification was extracted with ethanol and further partition with chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Ethanolic extract (11.9g) was fractionated on a silica gel accelerated column chromatography using solvents such as n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. Each eluent fractions (150ml aliquots) were collected and monitored with thin layer chromatography. Fractions with similar Rf values from same solvents system were pooled together. Phytochemical test of all the fractions were performed using standard procedure. Complete elution yielded 48 fractions (150ml/fraction) which were pooled to 24 fractions base on the Rf values. It was further recombined and 12 fractions were obtained on the basis on Rf values and coded Vd1 to Vd12 fractions. Vd8 was further eluted with ethylacetate and methanol and gave fourteen sub fractions Vd8-a, -Vd8-m. Fraction Vd8-a (56mg) gave a white crystal compound coded V1. It was further checked on TLC and observed under ultraviolet lamp and was found to give a single spot. The Rf values were calculated to be 0.433. The melting point was determined using Gallenkamp capillary melting point apparatus and found to be 241-243°C uncorrected. Characterization of the isolated compound coded V1 was done using FT-infra-red spectroscopy, HNMR, 13CNMR(1and 2D) and HRESI-MS. The IR spectrum of compound V1 shows prominent peaks that corresponds to OHstr (3365cm-1) and C=0 (1652cm-1) etc. This spectrum suggests that among the functional moiety in compound V1 are the carbonyl and hydroxyl group. The 1H NMR (400 MHz) spectrum of compound V1 in DMSO-d6 displayed five singlet signals at δ 0.72 (3H, s, H-18), 0.79 (3H, s, H-19), 1.03 (3H, s, H-21), 1.04 (3H, s, H-26), 1.06 (3H, s, H-27) each integrating for three protons indicating the five methyl functional groups present in the compound. It further showed a broad singlet at δ 5.58 integrated for 1 H due to an olefinic H-atom adjacent to the carbonyl carbon atom. Three signals at δ 3.10 (d, J = 9.0 Hz, H-22), 3.59 (m, 1H, 2H-a) and 3.72 (m, 1H, 3H-e), each integrating for one proton is due to oxymethine protons indicating that three oxymethine H-atoms are present in the compound. These all signals are characteristic to the ecdysteroid skeletons. The 13C-NMR spectrum showed the presence of 27 carbon atoms, suggesting that may be steroid skeleton. The DEPT-135 experiment showed the presence of five CH3, eight CH2, and seven CH groups, and seven quaternary C-atoms. The molecular formula was established as C27H44O7 by high resolution electron spray ionization-mass spectroscopy (HRESI-MS) positive ion mode m/z 481.3179. The signals in mass spectrum are 463, 445, and 427 peaks corresponding to losses of one, two, three, or four water molecules characteristic for ecdysterone skeleton reported in the literature. Based on the spectral analysis (HNMR, 13CNMR, DEPT, HMQC, IR, HRESI-MS) the compound V1 is thus concluded to have ecdysteriod skeleton and conclusively conforms with 2β, 3β 14α, 20R, 22R, 25-hexahydroxy-5 β cholest-7-ene-6- one, or 2, 3, 14, 20, 22, 25 hexahydroxy cholest-7-ene-6-one commonly known as 20-hydroxyecdysone.

Keywords: vitex, phytochemical, purification, isolation, chromatography, spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Perla Elizabeth Jimarez Rocha, Carolina Daniela Tejeda Franco, Arturo Minor Martínez, Annel Gomez Coello

Abstract:

One of the biggest problems in developing new therapies for the management and treatment of voice disorders is the difficulty of objectively evaluating the results of each treatment. A system was proposed that captures and records voice signals, in addition to analyzing the vocal quality (fundamental frequency, zero crossings, energy, and amplitude spectrum), as well as the subglottic pressure (cm H2O) during the sustained phonation of the vowel / a /; a recording system is implemented, as well as an interactive system that records information on subglottic pressure. In Mexico City, a control group of 31 patients with phoniatric pathology is proposed; non-invasive tests were performed for these most common vocal pathologies (Nodules, Polyps, Irritative Laryngitis, Ventricular Dysphonia, Laryngeal Cancer, Dysphonia, and Dysphagia). The most common pathology was irritative laryngitis (32%), followed by vocal fold paralysis (unilateral and bilateral,19.4 %). We take into consideration men and women in the pathological groups due to the physiological difference. They were separated in gender by the difference in the morphology of the respiratory tract.

Keywords: amplitude spectrum, energy, fundamental frequency, subglottic pressure, zero crossings

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Chien-Kuo Chiu

Abstract:

In the displacement-based seismic design and evaluation, equivalent linearization method is one of the approximation methods to estimate the maximum inelastic displacement response of a system. In this study, the accuracy of two equivalent linearization methods are investigated. The investigation consists of three soil condition in Taiwan (Taipei Basin 1, 2, and 3) and five different heights of building (H_r= 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 m). The first method is the Taiwan equivalent linearization method (TELM) which was proposed based on Japanese equivalent linear method considering the modification factor, α_T= 0.85. On the basis of Lin and Miranda study, the second method is proposed with some modification considering Taiwan soil conditions. From this study, it is shown that Taiwanese equivalent linearization method gives better estimation compared to the modified Lin and Miranda method (MLM). The error index for the Taiwanese equivalent linearization method are 16%, 13%, and 12% for Taipei Basin 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Furthermore, a ductility demand spectrum of single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system is presented in this study as a guide for engineers to estimate the ductility demand of a structure.

Keywords: displacement-based design, ductility demand spectrum, equivalent linearization method, RC buildings, single-degree-of-freedom

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: K. M. Saif Ur Rahman, Razib Mamun, Himica Arjuman, Fida Al Shams

Abstract:

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become an emerging neurodevelopmental disorder with increasing prevalence. It has become an important public health issue globally. Many approaches including speech and language therapy (SLT), occupational therapy, behavioral therapy etc. are being applied for the betterment of the ASD patients. This study aims to describe the characteristics of ASD patients and perception of caregiver regarding SLT in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a therapy and rehabilitation center at Dhaka city. Caregivers of 48 ASD patients responded regarding their perception of SLT and characteristics of patients. Results: Among 48 ASD patients, 56.3% were between 3 to 5 years age group with a male predominance (87.5%). More than half of the participants (56.3%) initiated SLT at the age of 1-3 years and the majority (43.8%) were taking SLT for less than 1 year. Majority of the patients (64.6%) were taken to a physician for healthcare as a first contact of which 29.2% were referred to SLT by physicians. More than half (56.3%) of the caregivers were moderately satisfied with SLT and most of them (62.5%) mentioned moderate improvement through SLT. Improvement rate was 10-15% in specific symptoms such as eye contact, complex mannerism, pointing, imitation etc. Conclusion: This study reveals the self-reported perception of caregivers on SLT. Despite reported improvements, more exploration of different approaches and intervention for management of ASD is recommended.

Keywords: ASD, characteristics, SLT, Bangladesh

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Z. Ž. Lazarević, Č. Jovalekić, V. N. Ivanovski, N. Ž. Romčević

Abstract:

Nickel-zinc ferrite, Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 was prepared by mechanochemical route in a planetary ball mill starting from mixture of the appropriate quantities of the Ni(OH)2, Zn(OH)2 and Fe(OH)3 hydroxide powders. In order to monitor the progress of chemical reaction and confirm phase formation, powder samples obtained after 5 h and 10 h of milling were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), IR, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy. It is shown that the soft mechanochemical method, i.e. mechanochemical activation of hydroxides, produces high quality single phase Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 samples in much more efficient way. From the IR spectroscopy of single phase samples it is obvious that energy of modes depends on the ratio of cations. It is obvious that all samples have more than 5 Raman active modes predicted by group theory in the normal spinel structure. Deconvolution of measured spectra allows one to conclude that all complex bands in the spectra are made of individual peaks with the intensities that vary from spectrum to spectrum. The deconvolution of Raman spectra alows to separate contributions of different cations to a particular type of vibration and to estimate the degree of inversion.

Keywords: ferrite, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 462

Authors: Janice Cheong, Tan Seying

Abstract:

The growing years in adolescence are often a tumultuous time for both the individual and family; this is especially so for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Social Communication Disorder (SCD). Tea Club, which is adapted from the PEERS® for Young Adults, seeks to address some of the social challenges faced by Singaporean adolescents with ASD/SCD while navigating social situations. Tea club (hybrid) consists of face-to-face sessions and virtual sessions. These sessions work with both the adolescent and their parents to tackle the individual's difficulties with social skills, empathy, and loneliness. Prior to the group intervention, both participants and their parents scored on the Test of Adolescent Social Skills Knowledge (TASSK) and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), respectively. The session was spread across four months. At the end of the group based intervention, participants’ and parents’ scores were collected again and compared. Inputs on the programme and participant’s confidence in socialization were also gathered from both participants and their parents and looked at thematically. The findings highlight some of the challenges faced by teens with ASD in Singapore and the benefits of the intervention. Parental sentiments are also examined and discussed.

Keywords: adolescence autism, group intervention, social communication disorder, social skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 108